Aug 30, 2010

Tyers Junction Rail Trail (Tyers Valley tramway)

We travelled towards Erica from Moe, and parked the car on the right (on the main Rd) adjacent to the Telbit Rd/Caringal Scout Camp sign. Access to the trail is on the left just after the houses. Trail was a little wet in patches due to recent rain but it was a beautiful ride through bush & rainforest with some spectacular fern gullies. Few fallen trees across the trail were easily negotiated, and trail is a little overgrown  in places (but still rideable)
Tyers Valley Tramway was a logging line (line closed 1950)

Distance- 10 km 
Surface-  Dirt

Aug 23, 2010

Sunday Tip Run

I was given directions to a few trails by a friend, it was a little unusual for me to not plan the ride and scrutinise maps in finest detail but she did say it was impossible to get lost. We rode out to check out a closed bridge, and on our return it did take us a little time to find the singletrack (found out later we had parked directly adjacent) but searching for a trail is the other half of MTB fun (after the half for getting lost). Tracks are co-used by motorbikes, so next time I'll ride these trails midweek.

Aug 16, 2010

Learning from experience

All I ever wanted to do was ride around the local rolling hill trails without stopping. Thanks to a little fitness and some friendly guidance from my ridding buddy, I now manage to spin up most of the climbs (lot of granny gear) and even happy standing on the pedals to keep momentum. I may not know all about bikes (haven’t even fixed a flat) or boast that I mountain bike properly, but I have come to the thinking, it might be best to let the learning happen naturally. Rather than trying to process to much information. So I have decided from now on I'm just going to enjoy the bike & the buddy I ride with  and value learning from experience.

Aug 8, 2010

Holey Hill Fire Lookout loop

a fire lookout tower implies one thing ..... uphell.
We took the MTB out to Holey Plains State Park (near Rosedale,Victoria) & rode from Harrier Swamp camp grounds to Holey Hill (the highest point in the park at 218m). We chucked in a lap of a pine plantation on the way for good measure. The 17km (10.5mi) ride to the lookout was over mostly smooth sandy gravel tracks & included 356m (1170 ft) of climbing over undulating terrain. We did manage to access a view from the lower rungs of the tower.

note- Named Holey Plain because of the numerous yabby holes in the lower land

Aug 1, 2010

‘Blores Hill MTB park’ & the Dippers

after reading local MTB clubs 4 Hour Enduro Race Report (& claiming Blores Hill as one of the districts favourite riding spots) We decided to head to Lake Glenmaggie in eastern Victoria (a place where I spent a lot of my childhood ) and check out  ‘Blores Hill MTB park‘.
         It Truly was  an amazing experience. Endless flowing single trails thru undulating natural Aussie bush land. Among the eucalypts we also passed some unusual fauna, like an old bike stuck in a stump, pile of bones, shoes, and  troll doll. The 17km of trail that I travelled was easy apart from the following moderate obstacles...
 1- I mustered up the courage (like throwing oneself off a cliff courage)  and negotiated a dipper
2- Also managed the plank over the tree trunk,
3- rode thru the V tree on the 2nd pass,
4- and got air on a few log jumps.
          Thankfully the weather was fine (So wasn’t any mud to wash off the bikes). The trails are shared use with walkers but we only saw one other cyclist during the couple of hours ride.

Bike adjustments since last ride

- lowered seat a little
- shoe cleats back a little